I would be extremely proud to serve this ice cream to visiting royalty, heads of state, chefs and ice cream aficionados, my family, good friends and marketmanila readers. Yes, it was THAT GOOD. Every so often over the course of this blog, I have come across or made a dish that was so out of the ordinary, so memorable and so delicious, that it instantly shoots up into the Top 20 Marketman dishes or recipes of all time… and this is definitely one of those recipes. Of course I am biased, since I made it, but if you take my word of it, and if you like mangosteen jam, and you have any memory whatsoever of the coffee and mangosteen pairing of Magnolia ice cream from 30 years back, this ice cream is a total slam dunk…

In fact, it is one of the few recipes that I am not yet prepared to share with whole viewing public on the world wide web. I think I might save it for a book or compilation of Marketman’s Favorites, if I ever get the nerve to finally do that. But let me describe it with enough detail so you get the idea… but I just won’t give out the exact measurements. There are many great recipes out there for coffee ice cream, so you shouldn’t have much trouble replicating this if you are determined enough… First I made a really strong brew of barako espresso… which was added to whole milk and cooled slightly. I must reiterate here that you MUST use the finest ingredients, no scrimping on this recipe, it will be noticed.

In a stainless bowl, I beat some light brown sugar and several fresh organic egg yolks until pale. Add the milk and barako mixture and mix thoroughly. Transfer the heat proof bowl to a bain marie or bano maria with simmering water, and stir the mixture until it…

…thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon and a finger run through the custard leaves a clean line… Take this off the heat, and plunge the bowl into a larger bowl which contains water and ice cubes to cool the custard down quickly. I added the finest heavy cream I could obtain and even threw in a bit of thickened cream to ensure the highest possible fat content in the dairy component. Mix thoroughly and remove from the ice bath when the mixture is cool to the touch. Alternatively, you can place it in the fridge for a couple of hours until sufficiently chilled. Taste the mixture at this point, it should already be heavenly. Our version was, and I knew we had a winner in the making…

Next, prepare your ice cream maker, we used an old-fashioned White Mountain churner with lots of ice and special rock salt… Put the custard into the stainless steel bowl of the machine and churn for say 15-20 minutes, carefully managing the salt to ice ratios to achieve the right consistency for the ice cream…

Too much salt, added too soon, and you will get an icy mixture… not enough salt on the ice and the ice cream won’t solidify enough… practice makes perfect on this one… or you can refer to the manufacturer’s instructions that come with the churner, they are pretty accurate. I think using this particular ice cream maker was an essential part of the success of the dish… a smaller ice cream maker may not necessarily do the job right…

About 15-20 minutes of churning and you need to check the consistency of the ice cream…

If it looks almost done, add some freshly ground barako coffee beans and as much homemade mangosteen jam as you can take… I used a LOT of jam. This is the reason I only added a little brown sugar at the start of the recipe… I knew the jam would add a lot of sweetness to the ice cream. Churn for just a few more minutes until the ice cream is just done. It will be soft, but it is utterly delicious this way… the flavors are most noticeable at this temperature. But if you want a more traditional ice cream consistency, freeze this mixture for several hours more before serving. Homemade mangosteen jam which doesn’t possess an overly thick consistency is best for this recipe. I had several bottles of our 2007 vintage on hand so this was a perfect recipe to make that hot summer day…

Everyone in the household at the beach (some twenty adults and kids total), got a small cup of this ice cream to taste, freshly made, and I kid you not, every single person had a smile on their face! And the rotor mechanism of the ice cream churner was the perfect way to serve kids (just out of the water) several fists full of barako and mangosteen ice cream!

The next day, we served this at the traditional frozen consistency (in nice round scoops) and it was really good. The ice cream was dense AND creamy. The little bits of barako added texture and an intense coffee flavor when they glided over one’s taste buds. And the mangosteen jam was a perfect complementary flavor to the coffee… Garnish with some additional jam if you want to have a real sugar high and add a coffee bean, if desired. The brown/beige dish used in the photos is a very early, original Lanelle Abueva, kiln-fired bowl with a folded edge… The dish used below is a green glazed commercial Portuguese ceramic bowl.

COMMENTS:

It looks so delicious! Yes, please…publish a book of your recipes…I will be one of the people who will pre-order it.

Apr 9, 2008 | 12:26 am

dhayL
says:

Sounds like an “odd combination” to me, but like what you said we have to trust you in this one! No more explanation, just look at the kids’ faces that’ll be enough! :)

Apr 9, 2008 | 2:54 am

HungryDude
says:

Im not a real coffee fan either, but this Ice cream looks decadent and a labor of love. Which came out as wickedly satisfying as you described specially if you made it yourself!!

Apr 9, 2008 | 3:25 am

gemma
says:

mm, i am so looking forward to your cookbook. being a filipino residing in a foreign country, i sometimes find it hard to recall certain tastes of some dishes so i have come to rely on your blog for guidance. your recipes are foolproof and your straightforward and unpretentious approach (no fusion here so we won’t have confusion!) to filipino cuisine makes the readers hankering for more!

Apr 9, 2008 | 4:04 am

Dew
says:

MM, I’m not one for coffee and don’t drink it…. so let me get this straight…. you put freshly ground coffee beans into the the mixture?

Apr 9, 2008 | 7:50 am

Shirley
says:

Wow! ’nuff sed. As mangosteen is my most favorite fruit while in season and when I’m in the Philippines mixed with Barako coffee…mmm, I can just taste it.
Thanks for always sharing all of your experiences.

Apr 9, 2008 | 8:12 am

Maricel
says:

MM, how do you care for your ice cream make? I had one years ago and I have totally given up on it, the salt is just too corrosive no matter how carefully I wash the machine afterwards…

Apr 9, 2008 | 8:26 am

zena
says:

WOW! This sounds just heavenly! Even if you do publish the recipe, I don’t think i can replicate it exactly without the homemade jam. Sigh, i’ll just have to settle for a really good coffee ice cream and mangosteen jam from kablon farms. I tried it during your last post of the jam and coffee combo.

Apr 9, 2008 | 8:38 am

Mila
says:

If you ever set up your own coop, this ice cream will have to be one of the cornerstones of your inventory. Limited edition Marketman ice cream.

I remember that coffee mangosteen ice cream of magnolia. My mom used to buy that a lot, i prefer cheese or mango though, but i did develop a taste for it. Really looks interesting and delicious! Just right for summer days!

MM, do you know where an ice cream maker is available locally? Thanks!

Apr 9, 2008 | 12:58 pm

rocoi
says:

yummy! i am gaining extra pounds just by looking at your photos MM!

Apr 9, 2008 | 2:06 pm

Katrina
says:

That looks and sounds — literally — perfect! Lucky kids!!! The rest of us will just have to content ourselves with regular coffee ice cream with Kablon mangosteen jam (not that that’s bad, in fact it’s delicious, too). I thought the same as Mila: with both brewed and ground coffee in the ice cream, those kids must’ve been that much more hyper!

Apr 9, 2008 | 3:05 pm

Candygirl
says:

Galing! Wish I was there for a taste :-)

Apr 9, 2008 | 3:15 pm

CecileJ
says:

Aaaaaaarrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh!!!! I want!!!!!

Apr 9, 2008 | 4:39 pm

CecileJ
says:

I crave!!!!!

Apr 9, 2008 | 4:39 pm

CecileJ
says:

I scream (for MM’s premium barako coffee mangosteen) ice cream!!!!!

Apr 9, 2008 | 4:40 pm

Artisan Chocolatier
says:

Hmmmmmmmm……yes, I do remember the Magnolia coffee mangosteen…but being lucky to have tasted your vintage 2007 mangosteen, I’m sure you “creamed” them with your version!!

MM, Did you use fresh milk and fresh heavy cream or the UHT variety?

Apr 9, 2008 | 9:18 pm

Silly Lolo
says:

L’m having what CecileJ is having, please!

Apr 9, 2008 | 11:37 pm

Mangaranon
says:

Magnolia used to have a flavor of the month called Coffee Mangosteen — that was one of my favorites!

Ernesto, I haven’t checked lately, and our machine is nearly 10 years old, but if I had to guess somewhere around $150+. Artisan, I used whole milk but pasteurized. And the cream was from Australia, but I suppose it was pasteurized too, but not UHT and off a grocery shelf, rather from the chiller section… Katrina and Mila, hahaha, I didn’t even THINK about the caffeine content of the ground beans AND espresso… yup, I guess they were bouncing off the walls… :) peterb, I am not sure who carries an ice cream maker locally, but perhpas the home section of SM or Rustan’s would have it. I am wary of the smaller home versions however as I often get mixed results. The old-fashioned White Mountain set up has always yielded good results… Maricel, try not to let the salty water hit the motor area. Rinse the whole contraption out with fresh water soon after making the ice cream. Ours is nearly 10 years old and stored at the BEACH, with salty air and it is still in good working condition. Dew, yes, there are ground beans in the ice cream…but trust me, you wouldn’t really know that unless I told you so…

Apr 13, 2008 | 8:10 am

lessie
says:

I remembered the coffee mangosteen! The best! Just wondering where you found the barako coffee? Would you know where I could get organic coffee here in manila?

edmon, it is 110V, and our house is wired for both 110/220V. But if you only have a 220V plug, there are voltage regulators that can convert that to 110V. Most American appliances are 110V, so if you want to use them, its a good idea to have dual plugs in your kitchen so that microwaves, blenders, food processors, etc. can be used easily…